Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. It was a case of the Sunday scaries for the ACC.
In men’s lacrosse, Jacksonville rode the hot hand of Max Waldbaum and frustrated Duke superstar Brennan O’Neill in a 14-12 victory over the No. 3-ranked Blue Devils — the Dolphins’ first-ever win over a top-three opponent.
No. 1 Virginia, meanwhile, needed a high-wire act from freshman goalie Matthew Nunes to avoid the same fate as Duke and a Sunday sweep for the SoCon. Nunes made his 16th save with 19 seconds remaining and the Cavaliers held on for an 11-10 win.
In women’s lacrosse, Michigan came out on fire and never trailed in a surprising 11-7 win over No. 7 Notre Dame in South Bend.
Among other notable developments this weekend:
-
Joey Epstein went bonkers for No. 15 Johns Hopkins in a win over Towson on Friday, but the Blue Jays fell back down to earth Sunday when No. 4 Georgetown responded to a 5-2 deficit by outscoring Hopkins 14-3 the rest of the way in a 16-8 Hoyas victory.
-
The new era of Syracuse lacrosse is off to a scorching start. On the men’s side, the No. 14 Orange throttled Holy Cross 28-5 to make Gary Gait a winner in his debut as head coach Saturday. His former player, Kayla Treanor, meanwhile, is 2-0 as a head coach following No. 3 Syracuse’s gutsy 12-9 win Friday over No. 14 Stanford and a 23-6 blowout of Binghamton Sunday.
-
History in Pittsburgh and Utah. Playing in their inaugural game, the Pitt women downed Duquesne 9-8 in overtime Friday. On the men's side, Utah defeated No. 19 Vermont, its first-ever win over a nationally ranked opponent.
-
Either Boston College is this good or Northwestern will miss Izzy Scane more than anticipated. The top-ranked Eagles handled the fourth-ranked Wildcats with ease, opening their NCAA title defense with an 18-9 victory. Tewaaraton winner Charlotte North picked up where she left off with a seven-goal performance.
Friday Wrap/Scoreboard: Men | Women
Saturday Wrap/Scoreboard: Men | Women
Sunday Wrap/Scoreboard: Men | Women
2. Vulgar. Infuriating. Obscene.
These are just a few of the words being used to describe what occurred Friday before the Howard women’s lacrosse team’s game at Presbyterian, where players and coaches faced racist and misogynistic taunts hurled at them by spectators. Presbyterian says it’s investigating the incident.
PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER
3. Remembering our friend and colleague, Bill Tanton.
Tanton, a longtime columnist for USA Lacrosse, died last Sunday at age 90.
Towson recognized Tanton with a tribute on its scoreboard during the game Friday against Johns Hopkins.
4. The last of the unbeatens has fallen.
The Toronto Rock defeated the previously unscathed Buffalo Bandits, getting four goals from Tom Schreiber and using a three-goal run in the fourth quarter to pull away in a 12-10 victory.
Buffalo remains in first place in the East at 6-1, followed closely by Halifax at 5-1. In the West, it’s San Diego at the top at 6-1, with Colorado in second at 5-2.
NLL WEEK 11 RESULTS
Friday
Calgary 9, Colorado 7
Vancouver 13, Saskatchewan 7
Saturday
Toronto 12, Buffalo 10
Georgia 13, New York 11
Rochester 15, Albany 13
San Diego 10, Panther City 4
Sunday
Halifax 10, Philadelphia 8
Read more from Jack Goods in his weekly NLL notebook today.